Need advice with new tires/rims

Hello,

The main question I have is: will I have tire rub if I upgrade from 265/65/R17 17x7.5” rims with 18+mm offset and 5” backspace (stock) to 265/70/R17 17x9” rims with -12mm offset and 4.52” backspacing. I don’t wanna spend the money on a lift, and I am pretty against leveling kits as I’ve heard nothing but bad things. I’d be fine having to shave off a little of the inside fender if need be but I don’t want any exterior fender rubbing. Chat GPT said it would push the wheels out about 2” more than they are right now. I’m also not looking to totally wreck the paint by flinging stuff on it. I’m not off-roading or anything, just want the truck to look a bit more aggressive. There’s also a 0mm offset option, the -12mm is ~1/2” more poke but maybe I should just go with the 0mm offset if that’s guaranteed no rubbing and not a huge difference. Does anybody have any experience with similar upgrades or have an answer? Thanks so much and sorry for the lengthy question.


A little about me:
I recently got a 2003 Tundra Limited. It’s super clean, was garage stored, etc. It was a huge steal and was owned by some guy who went to Florida every winter and basically babied the truck its whole existence.

I need new tires, as the current ones are 10 years old and dry rotting a little (they won’t pass inspection either way). I was planning on getting 265/70/R17 Falken Wildpeak A/T4Ws because that’s what’s been recommended to me. I will be driving the truck in north country ish winters/upstate New York winters which can get pretty nasty, and I’ve heard these tired fair a bit better than some of the completion for all year round. Do you guys also think the A/T4Ws are good?

 

Did you read the wheel & tire info in the community megathread? Lots of good tire/backspace coverage in there.

The tl;dr is, looking at any of a variety of calculators, you're adding 1" of tire height with that setup, no additional tire width, it's a kickass combo. The speedo will be off. If you go with another road tire, not an aggressive A/T tire, you shouldn't experience much (if any) rub, and any rub you have should be able to be aligned out by someone who knows what they're doing. But with 4.5" BS on those wheels ... it'll push the tire out without poking too far, and get you off the suspension, which is ideal.

I'll tell you what I tell everyone on here: NEVER TRUST AI TO GIVE YOU ACCURATE CAR DIAGNOSTICS OR MECHANICAL INFO!

It's full of shit with that claim. Understand, it's parsing sources like this forum, without being able to understand whether it's a 1st/2nd/3rd gen, or being able to put its source data in context. Just don't do it, dude.

I'd stick with the -12 option. The closer you can get to the 4.75 - 4.5 backspace range is ideal.

Read that thread I linked if you haven't already, so you know what to watch out for. Specifically, make sure your LBJ's aren't aftermarket. Inspect the radiator for browning along the cap (it should be black). Make sure that timing belt has been changed within the last 10yrs if the truck is under 100k miles. Inspect for rust, even if the truck hasn't been in salty/coastal conditions. And know that low mileage is not necessarily a good thing for the V8s in these trucks.

 

Thank you for the help. I just have a few questions. It seems that being close to that 4.5 backspacing is ideal, but with the offset being -12mm, would I have a lot of rub? I’m sizing up in tires a little also (265/65->265/70). Again, I don’t wanna lift it yet. Also, what do you mean that I would be “off the suspension”?

 

As is mentioned in that thread, all of the best possible backspacing numbers are there.

Going to the Custom Offsets calculator, at 9" wide on the wheel, with -12 backspace, you're going to be at 4.53" backspace. You're adding width at the wheel, and not the tire, but reducing the backspacing. Remember, backspacing is how much your wheel exists between its center mounting plate, and the edge of the wheel. +4.53" backspace, there is 4.53" wheel poking inward toward the suspension. +5" backspace, puts the wheel with 5" poking inward, i.e. you're half an inch closer to rubbing the suspension (UCA / spring) with that 5" backspace. You don't want a higher backspace number, you want a lower number. We've found the sweetspot, depending on your wheel width (backspace value changes based on your wheel width), it's somewhere between 4.35 - 4.75", depending on wheel width. The wider your wheel, the lower you want that number to be. These numbers are all covered in the "suspension, wheel & tire" section of that thread I linked.

When I say "off the suspension", that's what I mean. If your (A) tire is too wide or (B) backspace number is too high, your wheel and/or tire is going to be so far tucked in that the tire is going to rub on the suspension. Your hub will never move inward, so the backspace calculation of your wheel AND the width of your tire is critical to ensuring the least risk of rub.

As you see in the picture above, the tire choices you listed have the same width. So the only real width you're gaining here is wheel width, which you should be making up for in updated backspace, pushing the wheel/tire outward, to poke more out of the wheel well (which also looks more natural with larger tires).

Will you still potentially rub? It's possible. But the bigger risk is the increased height of the tire, being 1" taller, i.e. when you're turning your wheels lock to lock, the corner of the tire may grab a mudflap or fender flare. We **DO** have people running 265/70r17 tires on here with no rubbing at all. And again, this is where alignment can help.

During alignments, the lower control arm and tie rods can be manipulated to push the entire wheel forward, backward, in, or out (caster, camber, toe). So if you were grabbing at the pinch weld, a good alignment shop could potentially increase your caster, making the wheel sit farther forward in the wheel opening, so there's no risk of grabbing. Will a chain-store or big-box shop be capable of this? Potentially not. You may want to hit an offroad shop to manage the alignment **IF** you do end up with any notable rub. But others don't have it, so as long as you're not putting crazy M/T (mud terrain) or excessively knobby A/T (all terrain) tires, chances are good you won't rub.

Make sense?